Kate Herron makes complicated lives approachable and gives comedy room to breathe. We value that warmth, especially in Margo's Got Money Troubles, though her instinct to put us at ease can leave hardship feeling a little too comfortable.
Fi1m perspective
In Margo's Got Money Troubles (2026), sex work is allowed into the family comedy without becoming an excuse for the direction to leer. We were relieved by that plain, unembarrassed treatment of the material; it leaves us free to care about the family complications. Herron is good at making difficult material approachable, without treating the subject as a provocation in itself. The comedy benefits from giving the actors space to make those complications matter.
Herron's early work includes the short Rest Stop (2014), followed by four episodes of the comedy-drama Sex Education (2019). Directing the whole first season of Loki (2021) took her into a larger genre production, but character remained central to her approach. Her background in improvisation helps explain the emphasis on collaboration and spontaneity. Those are useful habits for a director working within established fictional worlds, where actors still need something to do beyond explaining the rules. Her episode of The Last of Us (2025) continued the work of balancing drama with comedy and genre.
The warmth of Margo's Got Money Troubles is a shared achievement. Herron directed two episodes; Dearbhla Walsh and Alice Seabright also direct, so assigning the programme's tone to her alone would be careless. Tari Segal and Carl Herse's cinematography keeps the presentation lively, and Richard Bloom's production design supports the welcoming feel. Nathan Micay's music helps sustain that buoyancy, while Elle Fanning gives the family comedy its strongest reason to keep watching. Herron's contribution fits a programme that gives its actors space rather than letting its subject matter do all the work.
Our reservation is that the financial pressures feel more comfortable than they should, and the heavier drama sometimes asks for too much attention. That is a meaningful limitation in a programme which needs us to feel that money matters. We would welcome more discomfort alongside Herron's generosity towards her characters, without losing the humour that makes their company worthwhile. Start with Margo's Got Money Troubles for Fanning and the comedy, rather than for a bruising account of making ends meet.
Biography
Kate Herron (born 28 October 1987) is an English director, writer and producer. She studied Film Production at the University for the Creative Arts and began her career directing short films before moving into television.
She directed all six episodes of the first season of the Disney+ series Loki (2021), on which she also served as executive producer. Her other directing credits include four episodes of the Netflix series Sex Education (2019) and episodes of The Last of Us (2025) and Margo's Got Money Troubles (2026). She co-wrote the Doctor Who episode "Rogue" (2024) with Briony Redman.
